Doctor Sentenced to 21 Months for Referrals in Kickback Scheme

A doctor who received $5.2 million in kickbacks for referring about 90 patients to have spinal fusion surgeries performed at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach was sentenced to less than two years in federal prison last week. U.S. District Court Judge Josephine Staton on Friday ordered Dr. Philip Sobol to serve 21 months in prison. Sobol faced a term of between 46 months and 71 months for his November 2015 guilty plea to one conspiracy charge and one count of interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cen...